


The Letter Y

by Savageandwise



Series: Love in the Time of Corona [3]
Category: Music RPF, Oasis (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M, Gallaghercest, M/M, Sibling Incest, present day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:41:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savageandwise/pseuds/Savageandwise
Summary: On tour in Hamburg, Liam cancels a concert because of a sore throat. More and more cases of Covid19 are popping up all over Europe but Liam isn't worried, he's got bigger problems. After months of reaching out, Noel has finally replied.
Relationships: Liam Gallagher/Debbie Gwyther, Liam Gallagher/Noel Gallagher
Series: Love in the Time of Corona [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747696
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	The Letter Y

February 5th, 2020, 22:30

They sped along the darkened streets, fleeing the scene of the crime back to the safety of the hotel. Liam's thoughts were everywhere at once, whizzing from topic to topic like a pinball in a machine. He thought of the way the crowd had looked from the stage, like the ocean during a storm, the bodies contracting and relaxing spastically like waves on the sand. And the frantic surge towards the stage when he made his announcement. 

Liam thought of the Beatles, as he often did when he was in Hamburg. Imagined them packed like sardines in their room in the cinema they called home while they played rock and roll all hours of the day and night. How strange they must have felt, far from the Mersey. He thought of his new house with that gorgeous garden, the excitement of moving in, of choosing new things. He thought of how Debbie's slender shoulders looked in a black halter-top on their last vacation. The salt and suntan lotion scent of her skin. He wanted that back, that carefree time. 

And he thought, inevitably, of Noel. Of how he would have hated this, would have ranted mercilessly at him about how fucking irresponsible he was. He would have made him feel about two foot small for leaving a gig before the end. Noel wasn't here though. Thank God. Noel hadn't been here to rant at him in years and years. Noel would never be here again. 

He faced the window but shut his eyes, pulled his scarf closer around his throat. The newsman on the radio was going on and on in German and he couldn't understand a fucking thing. It sounded bad though. Things always sounded worse in German. Beside him Debbie was reading out sympathetic tweets his fans had sent.

"Any of them from people in Hamburg?" Liam rasped. "Or just the usual suspects?" 

Debbie started to answer but he held up his hand to stop her. He didn't really want to know. He didn't need the false comfort or the accusations. There was nothing he could do about it if his voice wasn't up to scratch. He leaned his head against the glass. He'd left gigs before, under worse circumstances than a sore throat but somehow today felt different. He'd woken up with the distinct desire to drink tea the way Noel used to prepare it. That fucked him up worse than a cancelled gig or a throat infection.

The doctor was already waiting when they arrived at the hotel. He said his throat looked inflamed, gave him some antibiotics and something to gargle with. He'd be round in the morning to discuss the possibility of a cortisone shot. Then he took Debbie aside to talk to her. Liam made himself a cup of tea while he waited for her, tried to recreate Noel's brew. The tea was all wrong for starters, Earl Grey in individual silver packets. Teekanne, that was the brand. When he tore open the packet the scent of bergamot assaulted his nostrils. Still, better than nothing. Debbie would be confiscating the mini bar with him on antibiotics. Confiscating it right down her own throat, he thought bitterly.

That wasn't fair on Debbie, he supposed. He'd never had a woman who looked after him like Debbie did. She was his secret weapon. Someone like him needed taking care of, that's what Mam always said. That's why she was worried about the break with Noel.

"He's your older brother, that's his job," she'd insisted. "Looking after you."

Liam had just shrugged. "He don't want the job no more. I can look after myself, I'm not an infant."

Still, even after years the split felt temporary. Like he was still waiting for Noel to fix his tea and tell him to pull himself together and finish the fucking gig. The tea tasted all wrong, but something about its milky warmth was comforting all the same. Liam kicked off his shoes and sat on the loveseat, flicked through all the old messages he'd sent Noel over the past few months. Each one unanswered except the last one. 

"y"

That's all he'd written. One letter. Probably an accident. But that meant he was reading them, he wasn't just deleting them. If he wasn't deleting them there had to be some chance. No matter how small. Some chance they could be brothers again. Liam had sent him back a handful of replies, all posturing and ridiculous. Looking at them now he was a little ashamed. Just a little. 

After what seemed like ages, Debbie said goodbye to the doctor and sat down beside him on the loveseat. She looked tired. Liam reached over and rubbed at the lines between her eyes with his thumb as if he could erase them with his touch alone. It wasn't easy following him around. He knew it.

"How're you doing, babe?" she asked with a small smile.

"You know," Liam rasped with a shrug. "Gutted."

She gave his arm a squeeze. "You made the right decision. Probably saved the rest of the tour. Come on, give yourself a break."

He nodded vaguely.

"You still thinking about Noel's tweet? Funny he'd start tweeting on his own all of a sudden. After saying he didn't care about all that social media shit."

"Hmm," Liam said.

"Liam."

"Yeah?"

"What have you done?"

Liam made an irritated clicking sound with his tongue and set the cup down on the coffee table. "What have I done? Nothing. I'm minding my own business, me. I'm on Twitter same as always but he's never bothered to reply on there. I don't know what makes that man tick."

"Right. Right. Try not to talk. It's only...you didn't send messages to his private number, did you?" Debbie asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What you don't understand, yeah? What you don't understand is he's me brother," Liam explained weakly. He picked up the cup of tea and warmed his hands on it.

"I understand. God. You know I do. If me and Katie ever stopped talking…"

"Not the same," Liam said sulkily.

"You should message your brother if you feel like it. And you know I'm behind an Oasis reunion one hundred percent. You know that. But it's like you're torturing yourself. He might never give in. You get angry on Twitter and… It's a vicious cycle."

He didn't know when he'd made the decision not to share Noel's text with Debbie. He usually told her everything. Maybe he was worried she'd point out it was probably an accident, and if she said it, it would take away the magic. Or maybe he was so used to keeping certain aspects of his relationship with Noel secret that he just fell back into it.

"Maybe I sent him a couple," Liam admitted after a moment. "But nothing...nothing naughty...I swear."

"Shh. Your throat…"

"Fuck my throat!" Liam said, raising his voice. He regretted it at once. It felt like he'd swallowed a handful of razor blades.

Debbie let out a huff of irritation. "Alright. Do what you want. Look, babe. When it comes to Noel you need a few lessons in the power of seduction."

"Pardon?" Liam was taken aback for a moment. "Seduction…" he wrinkled his nose.

"He wants to be chased." Debbie looked down at her fingernails. "Fuck me, I thought gel polish would last longer."

"Chased?" Liam pressed.

He had an image in his head of running after Noel on the field as he kicked a ball. The way he turned around and grinned at him just before Liam tackled him to the ground. That jolt of their bodies colliding.

"Yeah. You need to let him run a bit before…you know…before he gives in."

Debbie was direct, she could be relentless but she didn't know about Noel. Not that part. Liam looked at her speculatively and then managed to pull his face back into a casual expression. She didn't know. No one did.

"Yeah, well I just want him to answer my texts, not spread his fucking legs. You know what I mean?" Liam said with a grin. He cleared his throat and then took a sip of tea. 

"Then you need to work on your game," Debbie said, shaking her head. Her eyes glittered mischievously.

"My game is fucking...fucking stellar. I pulled you, innit?" Liam protested.

Debbie leaned in, nuzzled his neck. "Yeah well, I was head over heels anyway. All you had to do was ask if I fancied it."

"If it works it works," Liam said stubbornly.

"Look," Debbie said. "Clearly Noel needs to be wooed properly. You have to play hard to get. I know that's difficult for you but that's just how it is. You make one big statement, then you ignore him. Really ignore him."

"Then what?"

"Then if he doesn't answer you try again. But not right away. You have zero chill, babe. You're like...ten texts at once and if you don't get an answer in the next five minutes you explode."

"I'm zen, me. I have fucking chill," Liam said darkly.

"Right. Zen…" she smirked. She leaned in to kiss his neck. 

Slightly mollified, Liam slid a hand over her bum.

"So you're saying I ignore him and he'll be falling all over me lap, like a tame pussycat, begging to be stroked," he said, stroking her bum and then giving it a little squeeze.

"Basically. Maybe you want to compliment him a bit."

She tilted her head at him and grinned, rubbed her arse against his hand.

"Fuck no!"

"Go on, everyone loves a compliment. Tell him his new sound is…"

"Shite…" Liam finished for her.

"How about...his workout is paying off?"

"You what?" Liam pulled a face at her.

"His stomach is so flat. I think he looks quite fit…" Debbie said teasingly.

"Fit my hairy northern arse!" Liam exclaimed, scandalised.

"Not as fit as you," she conceded.

"Too right."

"Tell him…I don't know. He's your brother. I don't know what he wants to hear."

"His clothes ain't half bad these days…" Liam allowed.

"There you go!"

He was enjoying the banter, the fact that there was another side to this conversation that Debbie was unaware of, but his voice was going, it cracked in several places and all the talking was making it worse. 

"Ignore him and give him compliments. And you're saying this works?"

He pulled Debbie onto his lap and tickled her exposed stomach. She let out a laugh, kicked up her legs and looked up at him. 

"Yes!" she giggled. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It's the carrot and stick principle."

"Carrot and what?"

"You reward him with a carrot and punish him with a stick," she explained. 

"Like a fucking horse."

"Exactly!"

"Play hard to get, eh?" Liam slid his hand up her body, cupped her breast. "Can I do that or it's too forward, like?" he whispered.

"Too forward," Debbie said, wriggling in his lap. 

He leaned down to brush her mouth with his. "Too forward?"

"You're going to give me your throat infection," she warned him.

"Can't have that, can we?" he murmured.

"Ah, fuck it. I'm not the one who has to sing."

He felt too worn down for full on sex but the intimacy was nice. He did it to her with his fingers while she shivered in his lap. After, she rubbed her lips against his beard and made purring sounds. 

"So...You gonna take back what you said about my powers of seduction?" Liam asked smugly. 

"Noel is a lucky man," Debbie said, sticking out her tongue and then yawning distractedly. She reached down and retrieved his cup of tea—cold now—and took a sip. "Bleurgh. You can't drink that milky stuff, babe. I packed some of the herbal kind."

"Make me a cup? I'll have it with those pills the doc left," Liam said hoarsely.

"Yeah…about that…he told me he'd go ahead with the cortisone depending on how you feel tomorrow. And he doesn't see why we shouldn't go ahead with the rest of the tour. But..." 

"But?" 

"But we should take extra care because of your thyroid," Debbie said at last. "There have been several cases of that virus from China, particularly in Italy. He recommends washing your hands frequently and staying away from crowds."

"Well, nothing simpler, right?" Liam laughed sarcastically. "We're not cancelling. It's like the flu, ain't it?"

"Better not take any risks," Debbie said firmly. "Just think about it. We can decide when we hear more." 

"We're not cancelling Italy, right? It's our favourite." 

Liam folded his arms over his chest. He looked her straight in the eyes. He wasn't going to budge on this. Not one bit. He proposed to her in Italy. He was going to marry her there in five months' time. Besides, Italian audiences were biblical, got him emotional every time.

"Alright. We won't cancel but you have to promise you'll take it easy," Debbie conceded.

"I'm always easy, me." He grinned.

"Cut back on the smoking and drinking," Debbie said. 

"You cut back on the drinking," Liam said goodnaturedly. 

"And no worrying about Noel. You need to think of yourself."

He bristled all over at her words. "Why would I be worried about him? He's got everything he needs, don't he?"

"You can cancel gigs. Nevermind what Noel would think. People understand."

"I don't give a fuck what Noel thinks. He doesn't give a fuck about me anyhow," Liam insisted.

Debbie set the mug of tea down in front of Liam and gave him a stern look but she wisely held her tongue. She pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

"I'm going to bed. Don't stay up long. No smoking, no talking on the phone. Rest your voice," Debbie said with a glare that was mostly put on.

"Yes, boss," Liam said.

When she had disappeared into the bedroom he pulled out his phone again and stared at Noel's text until his eyes swam. He wanted a real drink but he sipped the herbal tea instead. Liam knew that somewhere in there, buried under all that rage and resentment was his brother. One day he'd get him back. Maybe then they'd just be the sort of mates who went for a beer a couple times a year. Maybe they'd get the band back together and the world would fall on its knees before them. Maybe not. It had been so long, it was getting difficult for Liam to remember if it had truly been the best band in the world or if it had simply been special because it had been his and Noel's. Not that he would ever admit that.

Maybe all he wanted was another chance, so he could remind himself he needn't be ashamed. After all, love was a good thing, wasn't it? Love was love. 

"With out love, with out love, we must surely lose our way." Liam typed the words into his phone and pressed send.

There was no reply tonight. Finally, Liam washed up and got into bed beside Debbie. I hope you're wide awake, fucker, Liam thought. I hope I keep you up all night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to twinka for the beta and generally putting up with me.  
> And to jeevey for being patient.


End file.
